Ezr 3:3 | TNotes | STEP | 3:3 The local residents were foreigners resettled from abroad by the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680–669 BC ) after the people of the northern kingdom of Israel were exiled in 722 BC (2 Kgs 17:24-40 ). Some had moved into the Jerusalem area during Judah’s seventy-year exile. A pagan altar might have been erected on the site, and it needed to be torn down before the new one, dedicated to the Lord, could be built. • at its old site (Literally on its foundations ): It was important to place the altar at the exact sacred spot where Solomon’s altar had been to connect with the authentic worship carried on before the Exile. • Daily morning and evening sacrifices (see Exod 29:38-42 ; Num 28:3-8 ) dedicated the day to God.

b2 Kgs 17:24-40►

cExod 29:38-42►

dNum 28:3-8►

‏ Ezra 3:3

3:3 ^a The local residents were foreigners resettled from abroad by the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680–669 BC) after the people of the northern kingdom of Israel were exiled in 722 BC (2 Kgs 17:24-40 ^b). Some had moved into the Jerusalem area during Judah’s seventy-year exile. A pagan altar might have been erected on the site, and it needed to be torn down before the new one, dedicated to the Lord, could be built.

• at its old site (Literally on its foundations): It was important to place the altar at the exact sacred spot where Solomon’s altar had been to connect with the authentic worship carried on before the Exile.

• Daily morning and evening sacrifices (see Exod 29:38-42 ^c; Num 28:3-8 ^d) dedicated the day to God.